Featured Commentary category, Page 39
Michael Driscoll: Marc Fogel shouldn’t spend another birthday in Russian prison
Marc Fogel, a native of Butler, is a 1984 social studies education graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, loved and respected by his faculty and by hundreds of IUP alumni all over the world who call him a friend. After graduating from IUP, Marc devoted his life — 36 years...
Lawmakers leaders call for release of Marc Fogel
Marc Fogel of Oakmont has been an international teacher since he was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In August 2021, he was arrested at the airport in Moscow for possession of 17 grams of marijuana, legally prescribed in Pennsylvania for a well-documented history of back and knee pain...
Jonah Goldberg: Supreme Court’s role in our partisan polarization has been greatly exaggerated
Conventional wisdom suggests the Supreme Court, like the country, is deeply divided along partisan and ideological lines. But this overlooks the court’s historic recent run of unanimous decisions and the fact the liberal and conservative justices often don’t vote as blocs. Court critics tend to respond to these inconvenient realities...
Cal Thomas: From great orators to gobbledygook
Once in America — and in some parts of the world — we were gifted by great orators, men and women who could by the power and content of their words inspire, motivate and sometimes unify their nations. Today, we have politicians who mumble, slur their words, repeat themselves and...
Keisha Che’re Jimmerson: Book banning an affront to freedom
As a first-generation college graduate, an educator, a devoted mother and a woman of color, I am a voice representing multiple facets of identity and experience. In acknowledging the diverse tapestry of our lives, it’s essential to recognize the interconnectedness that binds us as a collective — the human race....
Gabe Roth: Supreme Court ethics lapses aren’t a partisan issue
Ethics reform at the Supreme Court is not a partisan issue. Nor is it a cynical attempt to shame or bully the court. It’s true that the justices most in the news for ethical lapses — Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — are staunch conservatives. But liberal justices have had...
Erwin Chemerinsky: What a relief. The Supreme Court did the right thing on mifepristone.
The same Supreme Court that overruled Roe v. Wade two years ago on Thursday followed well-established constitutional principles to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to restrict the availability of mifepristone, a drug used to medically induce abortions. The bottom line is that the decision upholds the Food and Drug Administration’s...
Thomas D. Beamish: Americans used to unite over tragic events — and now are divided by them
Tragedy seldom unifies Americans today. Every year, horrific crises induce tremendous suffering. Most are privately tragic, affecting only those directly harmed and their immediate relations. A small number, though, become politically notorious and, therefore, publicly tragic. Natural disasters, school shootings, terrorist attacks and economic crises can become public tragedies. Sexual...
Carah Whaley: Election officials are heroes. Support them by becoming poll workers.
Elections are the primary mechanism for Americans to communicate their ideas, priorities and values. As someone who closely studies civic engagement and elections, I’ve seen firsthand the crucial work election administrators and poll workers do to make it possible for people to have a say in our system of self-governance....
Peter Morici: Biden administration needs a winning EV strategy or Chinese carmakers will take American jobs
American and European leaders decry Chinese mercantilism, but more is at play than trade barriers and subsidies in the struggle to dominate the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Early in this century, Chinese policymakers recognized the importance of the auto sector — it’s a huge user of semiconductors and software —...
LZ Granderson: So what if Gen Z applicants bring their parents to a job interview?
Bring your parent to school, bring your child to work, bring your mother to a job interview. That last one may stick out as odd, but it is apparently a growing phenomenon in the workforce. A recent study indicates that as much as 25% of Generation Z job applicants have...
Amy Lockard: Biology does not a father make
The “Father of our Country,” George Washington, was ironically not himself a father — not a biological one anyway. He was a stepfather and raised two of his stepgrandchildren, one of whom was named after him. With his stepchildren/grandchildren and many nieces and nephews, he relished his large family and...
Cal Thomas: The second coming of the late ’70s?
The 1970s are remembered for many things: the end of the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency, American hostages held for 444 days by Iran and disco (ugh). In 1978, Pope John Paul II became leader of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1979, Jimmy Carter accused Americans of...
Gisele Fetterman: Protecting Dreamers is a moral imperative
As someone who grew up undocumented in the U.S., I understand all too well the pain of growing up in the shadows and the stress caused by the uncertainty of the situation. I have spoken out many times over the years about the urgent need to protect the “Dreamers,” people...
Luke Bernstein: Federal rules put Pa.’s hydrogen future at risk
For the past two decades, Pennsylvania has been at the forefront of the shale revolution, which has delivered incredible quantities of affordable natural gas and fundamentally reshaped national and global energy markets. What’s incredible is not just the sheer scale of production — the gas produced in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale...
Matt Smith and Tom Frank: Enhance Pa.’s Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program
Pennsylvania stands at a crossroads: Our state has a rich history of industrial, commercial and business prowess, but to remain economically competitive, we must continually compete and adapt for the future. The Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) program, established in 1977, has served us well, but it’s time to...
Elwood Watson: Black Republican doesn’t know his Black history
This month, during an event in Philadelphia supporting Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds made the attention-grabbing assertion that Black families were stronger and more conservative under the Jim Crow era. “You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together,” Donalds said. “During Jim Crow,...
Dr. Val Arkoosh: Shapiro’s proposed budget would be life changing for people with disabilities, caregivers
This May, I visited Partners For Quality in Pittsburgh, where I had the honor of meeting Claire and her fellow Voices for Change self-advocates. I learned it took Claire, who has a disability, five months to find an employer who would hire her, and she has been on a waiting...
Bruce Yandle: From the Boston Tea Party to today’s targeted tariffs: What happened?
For a nation with roots in a rambunctious 1773 Boston Tea Party protesting British tariffs, it’s odd to see both major-party White House contenders trying to outdo each other with promises of tariffs. We’ve come a long way from the first Independence Day, which was sparked by a fundamental notion...
Danny Tyree: Should a sense of humor be mandatory for fathers?
Some fathers are entirely too serious. They’re paranoid about their children finding out that they had their own youthful indiscretions and regrettable choices. (“I don’t make mistakes. You can ask any of your six stepmoms.”) My late father ’fessed up to his own errors in judgment, like when he was...
Kelly O’Connor: Here’s how states can optimize $50 billion in opioid settlement funds
Kudos to John Oliver and HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” for their coverage of the opioid crisis and the resultant settlement. Many states are struggling to use the settlement funds effectively, and some are already repeating the waste, fraud and abuse involving Big Tobacco settlement funds ($206 billion) in the 1990s....
Francis Wilkinson: GOP continues to wage war on mail-in votes in Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, one of the paramount states of our mortal combat electoral system, voting by mail is legal. It’s also safe and readily administered and documented. As in other swing states won by Joe Biden, the 2020 election in Pennsylvania was scrutinized, adjudicated and relentlessly attacked. Despite months of partisan...
Counterpoint: Trump’s conviction is an important victory for the rule of law
Former President Donald Trump is a convicted felon. This is the first time in U.S. history that a sitting or former president has been found guilty of committing a crime. It’s a sobering milestone but a victory for accountability and the fundamental principle that, in our democracy, no one is...
Point: Trump verdicts make NYC ‘Venezuela-on-the-Hudson’
It’s hard to describe adequately what happened to Donald Trump in Venezuela-on-the-Hudson. Outrageous? A travesty of justice? A devastating blow to the sanctity of our justice system and its reputation for fairness and nonpartisanship? An American repetition of the Soviet show trials of the 1930s? It’s all of those things....
Talor Musil and Sean O’Leary: Appalachian Hydrogen Hub means more fracking pollution, false promises
The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub, or ARCH2, is sweeping through Pennsylvania with much the same fanfare as the fracking boom back in 2008. Once again, fossil-fuel companies like EQT and CNX are promising our region groundbreaking new ways to produce cleaner energy, supercharge job growth, and revolutionize the region’s economy. In...
